Best inner tube brand?

Hi,
I am looking for a good brand of tubes for a 700X38c tire on a hybrid. I bought some Pyramids, but am less than impressed. I want something relatively puncture resistant, with good pressure retention. The pyramid tubes I bought lost 20 pounds of pressure overnight. Iremoved the first one, checked the tire for sharp nasties, put another tube in, and the same thing happened. I have to assume that they are low quality tubes. The local LBS would not answer my question about better quality tubes. Iwanted to know what was the best, they kept telling me which one of the ones they sell was the best. (Subtle difference, I know). Anybody researched this?

Surely the tire matters much more than the tube? I buy the C$2.75 ones from MEC, which is actually cheaper than a patch kit (although admittedly a patch kit will patch more than one tire). And I'll save the brand names and the big bucks for the tires.l

I used Pyramids on both bikes. My Roubaix came with Kendas which developed holes around the valve stems after only 50 miles! This is probably because they don't have a retaining nut for the stem. They are also very thin.
I will never buy a Kenda tube.

There is no best brand when comparing the quality of tubes found at most LBS's; Walmart type of tubes tend to be junk though but are great for kids bikes. The biggest problem with cheap tubes is the tubes consistency is not as good as more expensive tubes, this means if you blow the tube up without a tire you will notice bulges in different areas, this means once inside the tire you will have thicker and thinner sections of tube and the tires roundness will be effected.

As far as puncture resistence go, there is only one tube that I know of that works good in that area and thats the Specialize Airlock which has some sort of goo in it that seals leaks fast and at high pressures. Slime tubes and their green slime goo does not seal leaks above 65psi.

In the past two years, I've used either Continental tubes, or some "store brand" tubes from Nashbar or Performance. The majority of store brand tubes failed within a month or two, usually from an internal valve failure, or a leak where the valve joins the tube. Other "bargain" tubes ruptured along seams.

I've had ZERO flats, for any reason, using Continental tubes. (Knock on wood, knock on more wood).

I carefully examine tubes after flats to discover the cause. Sometimes it is a spoke end. Some times a sharp edge on some brittle rim tape. Sometimes a gouge on the inner surface of the rim. The possible causes of a damaged tube are endless.

"Bargain" tubes puncture and leak under the slightest stress. Sometimes under no detectable stress at all. Continental uses tough, flexible, and puncture resistant material. I have never seen streets anywhere that compare to glass and trash strewn streets of inner city Houston. Continental tubes hold up under the worst of conditons. Not a theory. I rode on them 300 plus days over the past year.

Perhaps bike shops outside of Los Angeles are all crap. I've never had trouble with any tubes from any shop here.

One thing to be aware of though is tubes are the one place where more $$ does not always mean better for what yuo want. The most expensive are light weight tubes. The tolerances are smaller as the tube gets thinner. Good for racing, but for normal use not worth the tradeoff in terms of more flats because of the thinner tube.

Ok there you have it, all kinds of missinformation! Conti tubes WILL NOT give you less flats from road debris then any other store bought tubes...HOWEVER Conti tubes may give you less flats from FAULTY construction that the store brand tubes may suffer from.

A thicker tube like a thorn resistent tube will only protect the tube from flats caused by very small thorns that barely penetrated the tire...regular thickness tubes will not stop this anymore then a racing tube; plus thorn resistent tubes are heavier then goo tubes. The only type of tubes effective at preventing flats are the goo tubes like Slime, which don't work in road tires due to their higher PSI's; and Specialize Airlock which does work at higher PSI's.

I use racing tubes for normal use and found no difference in flat protection vs regular tubes, so the weight savings is worth it even for normal use. The only problem with racing tubes (mine weigh 65grms) is that they have to be pumped up before every ride; if you don't like to put air in your tires then get the thick heavy thorn resistent tubes that weigh about 165grms and you can go for about 7 days without needing to add air; even if you buy regular tubes that weigh about 100grms you STILL HAVE to put air in before every ride! So why not use a lighter tube? But if puncture resistence is your primary goal then why not use the Specialize Airlock tube with sealant that weighs about 110grms which is lighter then a thorn resistent tube and it actually works!!!

Sometime back I bought some no-name white-box Made-in-Indonesia tubes at my LBS. Not only were they noticably thinner than the original Specialized (made in Taiwan?) tubes that came with my bike, but I was getting flats like every ten miles.

Since then I fiogure Imay as well stick with Specialized. My LBS charges the same money either way. Then I upgraded to Armadillos and (knock on wood) haven't had a flat since

Sometime back I bought some no-name white-box Made-in-Indonesia tubes at my LBS. Not only were they noticably thinner than the original Specialized (made in Taiwan?) tubes that came with my bike, but I was getting flats like every ten miles.

Since then I fiogure Imay as well stick with Specialized. My LBS charges the same money either way. Then I upgraded to Armadillos and (knock on wood) haven't had a flat since

That's right, your best defense against flats is to have a flat resistent tire first; and the Specialize Armadillo that Stacy uses is the best...at least in my opinion. When I lived in Goathead City (actually Mohave Desert area of Calif), the only thing that would stop a Goathead was the Armadillo tire-no liner, no tube with or without goo (didn't try the Specialize Airlock), would stop a Goathead. In fact I got so cocky with using the Armadillo I went to the Specialize Turbo Racing tube that weighed 65grms and only flatted twice in over 15,000 miles, once due to a faulty tube and the other due to allowing a Armadillo to wear to the cords. Prior to the Armadillo I was getting 3 to 5 flats a week! (I average 5,000 miles a year)

I've used and patched up many different brands of tubes and I cannot really say which, if any, tubes are better than others. You could get 10 tubes of the same brand and type and chances are that there will be a dud or two in the bunch. I buy in bulk now when I see a sale and get a couple of patch kits while I am at it.

What has seemed to matter more to me is the tires, proper inflation, and not riding my bike near bars and nightclubs (unless I am stopping in for a drink, of course). Also, I've gotten into the habit of checking my tires every so often for little bits of glass that are stuck in the tread and trying to work their way through. I just love the looks I get from people passing by when I whip out my Sherlock Holmes style magnifying glass and start throughly inspecting my tires.

Ya want flar-resistance? SLIME tubes! Yeah, they're heavy, but what do I care? I put them on my exercise hybrid (the Kona Dew with the WTB tires) and haven't had a flat since.

In MTB tubes their fine but in Road tubes the PSI is too high and the Slime goo won't seal a puncture once you air above about 65psi; the higher psi just blows the goo out of even the smallest of holes even after it sealed below 65psi for awhile...as soon as you air above 65 it just blows the sealed hole and you have a leak again and a green mess inside your tire and rim.

Kenda far from the best brand

Originally Posted by BostonFixed

Kenda is the best inner tube brand.

You must have been lucky with your Kendas. I have one Kenda tyre on my car. Which tread has lifted and is causing a lot of road noise? It is the Kenda. My son has Kenda tyres on his old bike. Very thin inbetween the 'nobbles', forever getting punctures. He has Kendas on his new[er] bike - seems that new bikes often get fitted with Kendas, expect it saves manufacturers money as they seem to be cheaply made. I know that sometimes a brand starts off good but in the case of Kenda, my experience causes me to hark after the reliability I once knew from Michelin inner tubes decades ago. Are they available now? I haven't seen them, but a well known brand, Continental has been mentioned on this forum several times with good reports, and are available so that is what I will stock up on as replacements of the rubbish inner tubes I have which have so many thin areas in them I am forever getting non foreign body puncture related slow releases of air and even the occasional rapid puncture. My time is precious to me and do not take kindly to having to repair 5 weak areas in inner-tubes in 2 bikes in a single evening! By the way, the new self adhesive patches seem to work quite well.